How Fairware uses social media to find customers who share their values—and their posts

This small team uses key social media channels to demonstrate thought leadership, and sustainable sales.

Fairware's mission is to change the world through the act of buying. The Vancouver-based company specializes in sustainable and ethically sourced custom-branded products. Since their launch, they have created products for companies like Patagonia, Unicef, Aveda, and Hootsuite (hey, that's us!).

Increased fans and followers

Created meaningful conversations

Leveraged social selling

Reinforced thought leadership positioning

What they did

Fairware is leading the fight against non-sustainable giveaway products—or swag. They use social media to demonstrate their expertise in the industry and attract like-minded customers.

Rather than simply promoting products and offering discounts, Fairware engages with clients who match their values, share research, and create conversations around the challenges and opportunities for improving their industry.

In the category of giveaways people don’t think of what they’re giving away, and it ends up in a landfill or the junk drawer, and we find that tragic. So we try to help people make better merchandise.

Denise TaschereauFounder &amp; CEO, Fairware

How they did it

Managing a social media strategy

As a small team, Fairware has to take a strategic approach to communications. They use Hootsuite to employ a social media strategy—managing activity and engagement on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn while also sharing images on Instagram and Flickr.

Using Hootsuite to effectively collaborate

Scheduling content to support their mission and positioning frees up time and resources to engage with their growing community. But with a relatively small team, they use Hootsuite Teams to stay organized and collaborative.

With Hootsuite Assignments, founder and CEO Denise Taschereau and co-founder Sarah White assign messages to Tiffany, Fairware’s social media coordinator, who then responds. This allows Denise and Sarah to keep track of messages and ensure that no question goes unanswered.

Tiffany, a graduate of Hootsuite University, closely monitors follower engagement, and assigns Denise messages that require her expertise and insight for a response. The team also uses Hootsuite to build and monitor Twitter lists to interact with clients, prospects, suppliers, other B Corp organizations, and others.

Using Hootsuite to find and share content

Becoming industry experts on sustainable consumer product goods (CPGs) is no easy task. To build themselves up as thought leaders, Denise and her team share compelling content that will resonate with their followers and position Fairware as sustainability experts.

They also use Hootsuite Suggestions and Hootsuite Lists to discover content from other influencers in the space to share with their own followers. Once they’ve sourced great content, the team uses Hootsuite to pre-schedule content for the week—saving them time and resources to focus on engagement while keeping their social presence constant.

Creating conversations through social

In November 2010, Denise noticed a Tweet about the glass water bottles at TEDxVancouver, which were supplied by Fairware. The Tweet noted that the bottles were manufactured in China, implying they might not have been the most responsible and sustainable choice. Denise noticed the Tweet, and was able to respond quickly by writing a blog post and tweeting it out in reply.

Rather than taking a defensive tone, the post openly addresses the realities and challenges of sourcing sustainable products locally, particularly water bottles. Instead of a controversy, it started a conversation. Fairware got positive feedback about their openness, and the person who initially tweeted ended up a fan. “It was a good example for how social—and Twitter in particular—has enabled us to stay on top of what could’ve been a really damaging moment for our brand,” Denise says.

It was a good example for how social—and Twitter in particular—has enabled us to stay on top of what could've been a really damaging moment for our brand.

Denise TaschereauFounder &amp; CEO, Fairware

The Results

Fairware has attracted a community of like-minded, trusting, conscious consumers. Relevant content, organized community management, and active engagement are key to their continued success.

With Hootsuite, they are able to:

Source content that will resonate with and attract like-minded consumers

Fairware has attracted a community of like-minded, trusting, conscious consumers. Relevant content, organized community management, and active engagement are key to their continued success.

Today, Fairware uses social media to learn more about potential customers and build trusting relationships. Having a wide base of fans who share their values—and their posts—means Fairware is always top of mind when a follower needs a promotional product for an event or contest.